 |
| Now with 100% more AZ |
Directed by: Stephen Chiodo
Produced by: Charles Chiodo, Edward Chiodo, Stephen Chiodo
Written by: Charles Chiodo, Stephen Chiodo
Budget: $1,800,000
Starring: Grant Cramer, Suzanne Snyder, John Allen Nelson, Royal Dano, Michael Siegel, Peter Licassi, John Vernon
This movie has a theme song about Killer Klowns. The minute it starts you should know what you're in for.
When an alien spaceship resembling a circus tent lands outside the small town of Crescent Cove, its population starts vanishing. It's up to Mike Tobacco (Cramer), his girlfriend Debbie (Snyder) and various other 80s characters to fight against this new, wacky menace.
Let's put this right out there, this movie is pure 80s cheese. The decade has a definite tone for its movies, and Killer Klowns feels like the logical conclusion to ten years of goofy comedy-horror monster movies in the vein of Gremlins and Ghostbusters. It's definitely a part of what I call the "ugly 80s" after all the glam and sparkles wore off and all we had left was frizzy hair and a cocaine problem. It reminded me somewhat of the movies Spielberg produced during the 80s, like Gremlins, with some legitimate creepy stuff against a comedy backdrop. As with almost any horror-comedy the emphasis is on the humor first, scares second.
The Good
Ultimately the premise is elevated by how self-aware the movie is. It knows how dumb the idea would be if it was played completely straight, so the characters regularly bring the absurdity up when trying to explain it to each other. This is one thing that's been consistent across the good-bad movies: the logic inside the film reflects how we feel we would react in that situation. Saying things like, "Yeah, it's crazy, but I have proof that alien clowns are eating people" increases the reality of the movie and shows that the characters are cognizant of the outlandish circumstances.
The script is pretty well done for a movie like this. There are some pretty funny awkward relationship exchanges between some of the characters, and it never feels out of placed or forced. The performances help put this across, as the actors obviously know exactly what kind of film this is. If Cramer or any of the other cast had played it too straight it would have stood out, and not in a good way. While watching this I got the feeling that this was exactly the type of movie WolfCop was trying to imitate.
In addition to the above, the characters address certain plot points. Later in the movie the core five talk briefly over why the aliens look like clowns, and point out that they may have been the origin of the clown aesthetic/idea. In the universe of the movie it makes sense, and to the audience it answers a question that no doubt came up: "Why clowns?"
There's some really good production design in here. This was made in the era before CGI became wide-spread and cheap, so you've got some great use of matte painting backgrounds, exceptional model work, and some really weird set and costume design. The clown prosthetics are really weird looking, and they actually reminded me of the design of Tim Curry's costume in IT, specifically when he goes crazy and has the big, sharp teeth. There are some really goofy uses of clown...tricks(?) as alien tools, like the cotton candy cocoons, shadow puppet monsters, and the animated balloon animals. One twisted clown cliche which actually creeped me out is a dark version of a ventriloquism dummy using a human corpse.
The Bad
While the physical production design is pretty good, there's some other issues which stick out. The sound mixing and levels are inconsistent, as is much of the audio dubbing. Certain effects seemed like they were delayed or lagging behind when they should have been on screen, and there are times where the volume levels don't feel right.
Certain cuts and direction felt cheap, even knowing the crew was doing what they could with what they had. Every time there was a car crash (and there were several) you could very clearly see the car slowing down rapidly before they cut to an interior shot of the driver throwing himself forward onto the steering wheel. I understand why they did it that way, but it still feels slightly clumsy and every time it happens it sticks out from an otherwise fun movie.
I'm not afraid of clowns, but if you are then no doubt you'd consider this a "bad" thing. Most of the clown designs are monster-y enough that I feel most people could get around it, but I'd understand why that would only make it worse for some people.
The Rest
The same crew plans to return for a sequel entitled Return of the Killer Klowns from Outer Space in 3D with Cramer planning to return as a town-drunk version of his character. I'm not sure this is necessary, because sequels to movies this self-aware tend to over-indulge and turn out poorly. However, as of the time of this posting it seems that the sequel might be stuck in production hell and might never see the light of day.
Should You Watch it?
This is classic 80s b-movie fun. If you can handle watching clowns kill people then yeah, give it a shot.
No comments:
Post a Comment